Buyer satisfaction levels are a true indicator of the state of outsourcing. The STM/Academic publishers have been the avant-garde of outsourcing in the publishing industry. The segment has been outsourcing and offshoring since the last two decades. It is therefore that this segment represents a mature outsourcing market. However, a recent survey of STM/Academic publishers done by ValueNotes suggest otherwise.

Customer satisfaction - Long way to go…

The exhibit below demonstrates the satisfaction levels of publishers outsourcing in the STM/Academic segment:

  Source: ValueNotes Sourcing Practice

The satisfaction levels have still not peaked in the STM/Academic segment. Considering that outsourcing has been long associated with the STM/Academic segment, it is surprising to note that the industry is still aspiring for higher buyer satisfaction. This is probably an indication of higher expectations versus unsatisfactory delivery by the industry as a whole. Lower satisfaction levels also stem from publishers using smaller or fly by night operators as vendors. However, there is a long way ahead to have highly satisfied customers for most service providers.

Quality – the pet peeve!

This primary reason for lack of satisfaction is – Quality! More than half of the buyers believe that quality requires “lot of improvement”. The industry despite being mature has not attained acceptable levels of quality, which only emphasizes the effort that needs to go into ensuring quality output. We believe that the fact that several vendors, many fly by night ones are operating in the space, quality is compromised. Our discussions with some publishers reveal that even some large companies have slipped seriously on quality in several instances. This points to two major areas for attention: Developing an industry-wide quality standard certification and developing a quality-sensitive talent base.

However, outsourcing will thrive!

Despite lower satisfaction levels, will outsourcing thrive? The exhibit below demonstrates that despite issues, outsourcing will not just continue at current levels but will grow.

While 75% of publisher responses indicate that considerable improvement is required in terms of quality of outsourced work, on an average, outsourcing is set to increase by 15-25%.

We believe this is sufficient reason for cheer for service providers. Increase in outsourcing levels even by 15-25% expands the opportunity pie within the established customer community. However, this growth will come from buyers who are moderately or highly satisfied with their vendors. Satisfaction levels and proclivity to outsource in future also indicates that service providers will definitely need to work on acquiring new clients, retaining current ones, pacifying irate ones and winning back some lost business. Providing ‘quality’ will be the future growth mantra for the publishing outsourcing industry.